Sunday, 24 November 2019

Local rice market access: gov’t provides assistance

-
November 24, 2019

Adnan
Adams Mohammed

The
government has acted swiftly to provide assistance to local rice farmers who
have their rice locked up without market access and risk losing a lot.

As
part of the government intervention, the National Food Buffer Stock Limited has
said that it aims to remove the 60,000 maxi bags of excess rice grains left in
the open, at the Fumbisi Rice Valley in the Busila South District of the Upper
East region, Hanan Abdul-Wahab, Chief executive Officer of the Stock has said,
assuring that, by the end of month the rice bags will be put on the market for
sale.

The
Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), last week, called on the government
to, as a matter of urgency, address the issues of post-harvest losses affecting
rice production in Ghana. According to the Association, post-harvest issues in
Ghana are greatly affecting livelihoods and productivity in Ghana and do not
augur well for food security.

“We
need a rice factory and market up here to accommodate the local rice. I have
over 1,000 bags of rice but don’t know where to take them. The School Feeding
Programme does not come for our rice and the other markets cannot absorb them
too,” Charles Nyabah, Head of Programmes for PFAG has said. Adding that, the
post-harvest losses range from the lack of equipment and facilities available
to the farmers.

“We
don’t have combine harvesters to harvest the rice here and most remain not
harvested annually and we also lack storage facilities for our local rice,” Mr
Nyabah lamented.

However,
the National Food Buffer Stock CEO believes his outfits intervention will help
reduce the risk of farmers. “This will be possible because buyers have
expressed interest in purchasing the rice grains as a result of the exposure
gained through media publicities done within the week.”

Mr
Abdul-Wahab revealed that “licensed market buyers registered under the National
Buffer Stock will purchase the grains and they will take them to the mills and
continue the production of rice making it ready to supply.”

Also,
the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) is in talks with 20 major importers
of rice into Ghana to get them to rely on locally produced rice for both
domestic consumption and export.

Addressing
the media, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Owusu Afriyie Akoto, said the
importation of rice will reduce drastically in about three years’ time as the
government builds the capacity of local rice farmers.

“At
the moment, we are in communication with the 20 biggest importers of rice in
this country. We have had three meetings with them and we are telling them
that time is going to come soon when they cannot do business and give rice
farmers in Thailand, Vietnam and America an opportunity to overcome our own.
Our farmers were asleep because of the lack of government’s support. Therefore,
it means that if you want to import rice into this country, it means that you
are taking away bread from the mouth of the Ghanaian farmers and giving it to
those in Thailand. What we are now saying is that, in two or three years’ time,
we will work out on an agreement for them to buy from local millers.”

Rice
farmers have been so far unable to find a market to sell their rice because of the
market is saturated with imported rice which is currently sold at relatively
lower prices.

But,
the Buffer Stock CEO explained that, the reason behind the farmers’ excess yield
is that improved seeds were given to farmers rather than the traditional seeds.
Thus, there was a greater yield this year.

He
said “that a greater yield was expected and that’s why the One District One
Factory (1D1F) policy was introduced to curb the anticipated challenge.”

However,
there is still a significant lack of storage warehouses in the country and rice
farmers are worried that their harvest will go to waste.

According
to Mr Abdul-Wahab, so far seven warehouses have been completed under the 1D1F
initiative and are ready to store excess rice grains.

Two
other warehouses, are 95 per cent complete and will also soon store excess
grains.

He
also added that the National Buffer Stock is committing to purchasing
¢50million worth of rice grains and maize this year.

Meanwhile,
Mr Nyabah had noted that, many jobs will be created if Ghanaians consume the
local rice. He added that with proper packaging which is a bane to local rice
production, Ghana will be good to go.

Kwabena
Amofah Akuoko, a rice entrepreneur, who has joined the clarion call to promote
local rice, said local rice is more nutritious and healthier than imported
rice.

“Diabetes
and hypertension are on the rise due to the excessive consumption of imported
rice. Foreign rice is full of carbohydrates but our local rice has fibre which
is good for the body,” he urged.

Rice
producers in Ghana continue to struggle to break even as the country’s rice
import increases annually.

In
some parts of the Northern and Upper East Regions, local farmers are losing
their investments due to the lack of a ready market for their produce.

Cost
of production for local farmers is often very high with less support from the
government.

Ghana’s continuous appetite for imported rice according to analyst have an apparent
negative effect on the national economy.

Though
it is one of the four main cereals produced and consumed in Ghana alongside
maize, millet and sorghum, many believe that efforts made in the past to
resolve the rice importation puzzle virtually failed to produce the desired
results rendering it a seemingly intractable enterprise.

While
rice farmers are asking the government to get them a ready market for their
produce, some others are making a difference in food production despite the
many challenges they face in their work.

Additionally,
the Vice-Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Trade, Industry and
Tourism, Ato Panford, has urged rice farmers in the Northern Region seeking
buyers to contact the Agric Directorate and Department at the various District
Assemblies for help.

He
says government is liaising with Agric extension officers and the Agric
Directorates to implement initiatives such as the Planting for Food and Jobs
among others, which captures food crops such as rice.

The
Shama MP speaking the disturbing situation, said it was unfortunate some
farmers are struggling to get buyers when the government is working at addressing
the same challenges under the Planting for Food and Jobs programme.

He
urged the farmers to contact the local assemblies to provide some assistance
since it is the official channel through which the government is implementing its
agriculture initiatives.

“One
of the key things that the farmers can do is to contact the district
assemblies. We have agriculture directors in all the district assemblies. When you
are linked up to the agriculture department or the district directorate you will have
access to equipment and everything,” he stressed.

Mr.
Panford stated that it is important for farmers to connect with the right
people to get information on time.

“Information
is key in this modern age, and as a farmer before you move into even
cultivation, there are some basic information that you need to take in respect
of where you want to do your business,” he added.

Subsequently,
the Director of Projects at the Ghana Export Promotion Authority, GEPA,
Alexander Dadzawa, is hopeful Ghana may become an exporter of rice in the near
future with the right investment in their activities.

He
believes the country must reach a level where it can produce the rice needed
for local consumption.

“There are certain crops
that we call staple crops. We also call them food sufficiency crops of which we
want to first ensure that Ghana is sufficient in production before we talk
about export. So for now rice is not too much in the picture when we are
talking about immediate export,” he said.